Halle Berry covers the November issue of In Style, on newsstands Friday. She looks amazing on the cover in a tight red cutout dress, but we wouldn’t expect anything else from her. You can say a lot of other things about Halle, but she usually looks incredible. An inside photo shows Halle in some ridiculous loose leather pants and fishnet gloves. I guess leather jodhpurs are in for that tiny subset of people with too much money and no sense of shame.

In her interview, Halle covers a lot of topics that the press is interested in: her custody battle and bid to move to France with Nahla, her fiance Oliver Martinez, her hair, and aging. (Not that she is actually aging.) I have to say that Halle talks a good game. She makes it sound like she wants to move to France for Nahla’s own good, and so that Nahla doesn’t inherit Halle’s own inflated sense of self. (Not that she actually said that.) It’s all about Nahla not feeling “special” because she’s followed by photographers, and about Nahla not growing up “around the tabloids.” It would have been more accurate to say she doesn’t want Nahla “to grow up around her father.” We have yet to how everything will turn out for Halle, Gabriel and most importantly, Nahla. That case is taking quite a while and I hope that means Halle will have to stay put. Here’s more:

On why she wants to move to France
“It’s the appeal of privacy and a greater sense of safety for Nahla. I don’t want her to grow up around the tabloids. Because we are followed all the time, she is starting to feel like she is somehow special, and of course she is, but I want her to understand that she’s special because of who she is, not because she was born into this celebrity blender.”

On her custody battle
“There is turbulence, bit this too shall pass.”

On her wedding plans:
“I do know it will be very small. I haven’t been to many weddings, but I went to one this weekend with 250 guests. I thought, Wow – so this is a wedding, huh? I’ve never had that, nor have I wanted that. I wasn’t even trying to catch the bouquet!”

On her fiance Olivier Martinez:
“When I first met Olivier, there wasn’t the initial ‘I’m in love!’ It was something that grew more gradually—and it feels more real because of that. [Marriage] is another one of those never-say-never things. I’m a hopeless romantic, and I won’t stop till I get it right!”

“He’s silly, a clown, and very much the life of the party, which is good for someone like me. Danny Downer … been there, done that. Now I like Louie Lightfoot!”

On aging in Hollywood:
“Throughout my career I have been talked out of things I wanted to do, and when I look back I think, I should have followed my instincts. I relied on others to guide me because I thought they knew better. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to trust myself. Don’t stress about your age or fight it. Appreciate the young women who look like you once did, but don’t strive to be like them. You’re moving into a new phase of your life—embrace it. That’s what I hope to do.”

On not being defined by her hairstyle:
“I think I am at my best when my hair is short. It’s easier to take care of and more of who I am. Women are conditioned to think we need long hair. I see that happening with my daughter. She is so in love with her hair right now. She says, ‘Look, Mommy—it’s so long!” As women, we think it defines us, and we learn that at a young age.”

Now we know that Halle is planning a small wedding, and that she considers it “embracing aging” to get subtle work done at the dermatologist. I’m not saying she looks toxy or filled, she doesn’t, but she’s had some minor things done. I would too in her position, but I like to think I would be more honest about it. (Who knows though.) The main thing that bothered me about this interview was how Halle used her daughter as an example of women being “conditioned to think we need long hair.” I only have a little boy, I can’t speak for girls, but he was into boy stuff from a very small age, like cars, trucks and robots. It really seemed ingrained to me and not influenced by society, media, or family at all. He just wasn’t interested in girlie stuff and there was nothing that would have changed that. Of course we need more role models for girls that are not naive Disney princesses waiting for their savior prince, but a preference for long hair doesn’t mean that society is defining it for a child. She’s just a little kid. I went through a phase where I refused to wear anything but dresses. At least Halle doesn’t insist her daughter cut her hair.

Here are photos of Halle out with Olivier Martinez on 10-12, and alone on 10-16. Credit: FameFlynet. Instyle photos credit: Credit: Giampaolo Sgura for InStyle via The YBF

If she truly wants privacy how about conducting her private life in a way that the public wouldn’t be interested in her relationships or her daughter? Was this interview even to promote anything, or just to talk about how much more fabulous Olivier is than all the other evil b*****ds who’ve used and abused her angelic soul?

I suspect Olivier prefers France and would rather be in his home country so Halle won’t let her child’s father’s right to see his kid get in the way of her relationship. Given Halle’s track record with men, I hope the judge decides to maintain the status quo for a few more years to see if Halle is still with Olivier by then.

(Clarification prior to anyone jumping my ass: A friend of mine used to say “You are so full of shit your eyes are turning brown.” It’s just an adaptation of that, and I mean NO offence and NOTHING race-related by that comment.)

As a black woman with a daughter, Halle is right,there is a stigma out there with in the African American community that long hair is better, my daughter is 7 going on 8 in 2013 and she was already asking me about perms and weaves ( yes some girls in her school have them already) I have to constantly remind her that her hair is beautiful just the way it is and she would still be beautiful even if she had no hair at all.

My mixed-ethnicity daughter embraced her hair when she was 4 or 5 years old. She wanted it cut short (“like Halle Berry” she said, so we did – she looked awesome!)

Once she became a teen, it was all about spending hours with the straightening iron (frying the ever-loving sh!t out of it) and me trying to convince her that women paid good money to have hair as beautiful as hers.

I cannot tell you how much money I spent on hair-care products, conditioners, treatments, etc… for her, because I honestly don’t know.

I think most teenagers, no matter their hair type, enjoy to fry/color the crap of it. My mom wouldnt let me buy a straightening iron so I tried using a real iron and literally burned a chunk of my hair off on the ironing board. it smelled so bad and I ended up getting a bob cut that looked atrocious on my baby fat chubby cheeks in 9th grade.

I think all people should have to watch “Good Hair” to know what African American women go through constantly with their hair. It opened my eyes and made me incredibly sympathetic and a fan of natural hair on black women. It might be superficial because it’s just hair, but I know what a struggle it can be and feel for those who can’t even be considered professional-looking when they embrace their natural hair.

B!tch please! Is that an “eloquent” way to say you want your daughter as far as possible from her father? There are plenty of paparazzi in France woman, enough with that malarkey thinking you’ll get the sympathy vote!

Well I never was conditioned to feel I need long and straight hair… Is she going to cut her daughter hair then at some point?.

The red dress is everything! GOOP must be fuming and ashamed of the black dress mess of the other day!

Okay, Dooliloo; I’m on board with Halle being a bit of a whack a doo. She is clearly delusional if she thinks moving to France will keep the paps at bay. First of all she’s not that important for paps to want to follow her. The only reason she’s being papped now is because she is in a high profile custody case. I believe she only wants to move because that’s where her new man lives. Also it will be difficult for Gabe to fly back and fourth to visit his daughter. Even though I might not agree with paying a man child support in their case anyways; I do know it’s wrong for any man/woman to try to prevent the other parent from seeing their child.

Now she is engaged to Oliver who is rumored to be a womanizer. Her shirt reads got to have faith but I don’t have much faith in this relationship. Her track record with men have not been that great, maybe it’s her, maybe it’s them or a combination of the two. Here’s a few details I heard about Halle’s love life.

She dated Wesley Snipes but it was rumored he dumped her because she sucked in bed.

She married David Justice who she claims beat her.

She married Eric Benet who cheated on her repeatedly and she knew about it but was in denial until she came home and caught him with two women. One woman was completely nude and the other was wearing Halle’s lingerie.

Her fling with Michael Ealy only lasted until they completed the movie they worked on together.

Then came Gabe who she conceived a child with but after that relationship fell apart she went on the attack to try to gain sole custody. I read somewhere that she even tried to get her friends to lie and say that Gabe used racial slurs towards her.

Now she’s about to tie the not again and attempt to move her daughter across country. I’m sure the judge will see right through her plot and deny her. The paparazzi story is not going to fly. But if the judge does rule in her favor I bet she’s going to high tail it back to the good old USA when it’s over with her and Oliver.

That hair comment, umm yeah that bitch crazy but her body is still banging.

Exactly-she has NO problem doing friendly photoops and calling the paps all the time.

And if France isn’t to far to move for work, neither is Seattle, or San Fran, or other parts of the west coast where celebrities who are much more famous than her can live without getting their kids papped.

And as others have said-this was clearly done before the Kate scandal and just makes Halle look like a idiot.

she looks great but she always does. Her face is too pretty to have long hair, IMO.

however, if it’s true that she just wants to move to France to seperate her daughter from her father, well that’s despicable. If she wanted to have a child with no strings attached she has enough money to hit up a sperm bank..

Um, you don’t have to move all the way to France to have a more private life. Try moving out of LA? Demi Moore and Bruce Willis moved to Idaho for YEARS while their daughters were Nahla’s age and you never saw them. Julia Roberts lives in New Mexico a lot of the time and you rarely see her kids. She’s moving to France to spite Gabriel and it’s disgusting.

Don’t want her to grow up around the tabloids…or her father. Arrogant and disgusting.

She’s followed all the time now because of the drama she created. Otherwise photographers lose interest. Lot’s of much bigger actors live in or near Los Angeles and we rarely see photos of their kids. It happens but not “all the time”. Jodie Foster, Christian Bale, hell even though his kids are famous how often do you see candids of Will Smith’s kids?

Move to a gated community, stop creating tabloid drama, and let your daughter have a father. Grow up Halle.

Her excuse is completely lame. The celebrity kids you see are the ones walking down Robertson Avenue with their parents or going to ballet class in the heart of Los Angeles. No, this is all about Halle. She’s putting the man before the child. It’s not about the best interests of Nahla. There are a lot of mothers who do this, sadly, once they get a new man.

Well when a celebrity lives their life trying to appeal to and manipulate the press, readers like us do get to know them and see through their ploy.

In Halle’s case, she’s playing both to and against the press and it’s come back to haunt her. It’s clear to anyone that she is trying to manipulate Nahla away from Gabriel and that is just plain cruel.

It could very well be that your son just happens to like traditional boy stuff because that’s the way he is… but please do remember that indoctrination regarding gender roles starts as soon as a baby is born. Studies have shown that people treat newborns differently depending on whether they think they’re girls or boys, and babies/toddlers/children learn from their environment. It’s very very VERY hard to distinguish between nature and nurture – however, with regards to gender performance, there is no such thing as “innate and ingrown” – we’re trained from the day we are born in how we are “supposed” to behave as men and women, and most of us toe the line, thinking it’s our own personal idea to do so…

Does anyone really believe Halle’s lies? She is trying to appear reasonable when she isn’t. If you want to get your daughter away from the pressures of Hollywood there are a thousand diffrent cities in the US she could move to. Why would the judge’s decision have any impact on her marriage to this guy? Is she saying that she won’t be able to get married if the judge doesn’t rule in her favor? That is a load of crock and she knows it and we know it.

Disclaimer: I have not been a fan since “Monster Ball” . But in all fairness despite Ms Berry’s many failings, I am disgusted that she has to support Gabriel. I hope the judge make the best decision concerning her daughter but will not question her parenting decisions. It is none of my business. I do not care for the PAPS” and their customers either.

In fairness, he only asked for child support after almost two years of fighting to see his child through the courts. And speaking as someone with friends who have fought the same battle, I suspect the money he gets from her only makes a dent in the legal costs she is racking up for him. Serious lawyers and long running cases would bankrupt most of us. I can’t help thinking that he went for the money because, had he not, he’d have had to bow out of the case altogether for lack of funds.

Not saying that’s definitely so. But I know people in the UK, with normal lawyers (not a big team to match her firepower) who have spent tens of thousands, sterling, just trying to see their own kids when the mother is implacably hostile. (They’ve been paying the mother’s child support, too, which does kind of sting, though they also accept it goes on feeding and clothing their child(ren). I promise you, if they’d had any way to claim the pointless, wasted legal expenses from their ex, under any heading, they would have in a heartbeat. Because nobody should be bankrupted, just trying to remain in their child’s life.

I was raised by a feminist, and am one myself, so when I had a kid, I gave him a cross spectrum of toys. And from the time he was old enough to discriminate, all he liked was machinery. We gave the toy kitchen and dollies away in the end because he never touched them – he liked cars, train sets, Duplo. He likes the dolls house because he plays being the handyman/fire alarm check man/plumber/electrician with it. I took him to a local farm, and all he wanted was the heavy machinery – didn’t give a stuff about the cute baby animals. And his preschool are very good at not reinforcing gender roles, and the only TV he ever watched was BBC preschooler stuff, which is so PC it’s ridiculous.

Yet when he was leafing through catalogues of clothing, he liked pink and flowery until he was 3 or so, and began to realise that wasn’t acceptable to his peers. That didn’t surprise me (in the Victorian era, pink was seen as a bold and aggressive colour, so used for boys – pale blue was seen as delicate and feminine and reserved for little girls) but it did reinforce that his love of engineered projects, trains, cars and diggers, and anything with wheels, was innate. It’s inborn.

You get outliers with any norm, and you’ll always get gentle, nurturing tiny boys and baby girls who just love trucks. But I do think there is a lot to gender differences, in a way I never would have believed in the past. I honest to God shielded my son from societal pressures. He was just born that way.

As to the rest – if she wants her child to grow up free from slebby culture, maybe another US city would do just as well. She’s chosen to live in Los Angeles, for crying out loud. And if the recent pics of Kate Middleton are any guide, I don’t see France as this paradise of privacy for the famous, either. Not to mention they have a shedload of celebrity mags there, too.

And yes, this is why she took her daughter to the Pumpkin Patch in West Hollywood where all of the paps hang out, while Gabriel took Nahla to a quiet one in the valley where there were no photos being taken. She has been in bed with TMZ for how long?
She is full of it.